Libyans Demand UN to Press for Release of Abducted Woman

A view of a busy road in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Jan.21, 2020. (AFP PHOTO)

Cairo - Jamal Jawhar

Armed men kidnapped this week a Libyan woman from her house in Al-Karimia region, causing panic and outrage.

The family of the abducted girl informed the media that four armed men stormed their house, stole cash, and kidnapped 27-year-old Wisal Abdul Hafeez.

The house is located in a region controlled by the Government of National Accord.

Panic spread among Libyans, especially in western cities that have been witnessing ongoing kidnappings, murders and enforced disappearances.

Libyans have expressed solidarity with the family of the abductee and urged immediate action by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to release her.

Libyan rights activist and law professor Khadija al-Boushi posted on her Facebook page that the woman's parents helplessly watched her being taken away by anonymous men.

Boushi demanded that the Libyan authorities rescue her, investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Libyan Women's Platform for Peace (LWPP) decried the kidnaping and urged relevant security bodies to adopt the required procedures to bring her home safe and prosecute the perpetrators as well as reinforce security in remote areas.

UNSMIL said in March that since April 2019, it has received reports of hundreds of enforced disappearances, torture, killings and displacement of entire families in Tarhuna city by the 9th Brigade “al-Kaniyat” of a wide variety of persons, including private individuals, state officials, captured fighters and civil society activists.

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